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It’s been a really rough year and a half. Construction that will (eventually) lead to a new, cheaper, gorgeous, space has dragged on. Our landlord has worked with us on the rent because of the long delay, but it’s been expensive and difficult for us to operate around the construction.

The economy isn’t great, you may have heard, and sales are down significantly.

Chris (our intrepid owner) has always staffed the store as a volunteer, and also has a full time job elsewhere to pay her own bills, and at this point our volunteer pool has had a lot of things come up that limit their time with us.

So it’s time to make some tough choices.

We have a few options. But we want to hear from you. Here’s what you can do:

Come shop in the bookstore! The hours are kinda wacky, we know, but the weekends, especially Sundays (open 11-5!) are pretty solid.

Volunteer! We need people to shelve books, to just sit at the desk and let people browse, and even some handyperson/ lifting/ carrying/ cleaning type stuff.

Spread the word. Let your friends and neighbors know that one of Pittsburgh’s oldest bookstores needs a boost from the community right now. And with our options to shop online, they don’t even have to be Pittsburgh-based to help!

We’ve been proudly involved in this October-long event for five years now. If you’re unfamiliar with the basic idea, Neil Gaiman explains it HERE.

Stop in any day this month and mention All-Hallows Read. We’ll give you one mass market Horror novel to read and one to pass on to someone else. We also have horror for kids and teens, just let us know what age you’d like a book for!

Since we get so many questions about our giveaway from people too far away to visit us in person we’re expanding the program this year! Order a book from us (of any kind) online and we’ll toss in a free mass market Horror book! Just use the shop links under “Hours & Location” on the home page and make sure to add a note about All Hallows Read with your order! If you’d like a book for a teen or child let us know, otherwise we’ll send an adult novel.

We will be open from 10am until 8pm.

We’ll be giving away some very snazzy “Shop Small” tote bags with purchases of $10 or more.

We’ll have sales on Classic Literature & Modern Literary Fiction, Thrillers, and Poetry (10% off anything you buy from those sections, Mass Market paperbacks excluded)

We’ll also give you a chance to win 10% off your ENTIRE purchase when you come to the register.

If you are a card-carrying member of PARSEC or if you drop a Pokemon lure in our store you’ll also qualify for 10% off your whole purchase. (Parsec members must have their card with them to receive the discount)

SEE YOU ON SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY!!

I was eight when The Last Unicorn came out in theaters. I’m surprised my parents took me to see it, I’d already been removed, screaming, from Disney movies that terrified me. Somehow a demonic bull, a sexually perverse tree, a screaming harpy devouring a witch – these didn’t faze me at all. They just seemed to be the real inhabitants of a real world I hadn’t been able to find for myself yet. Years after the movie release, I found out that the author and screenwriter, Peter S Beagle, had never been paid for the movie, even though it was a cult hit on VHS & DVD. Even though it’s hard to find a kid from my generation who didn’t immediately recall that tree, or the bull, or the magician who can’t really handle magic. Somehow Peter had gotten passed over in all the success.

It was a relief to hear that someone had stepped in to help. I called this person, thanks to a mutual friend. I volunteered to help Peter, to help the man who was fighting on his behalf, to help anyone who could, in turn, help Peter. The battle over the movie payments was won. Success followed, with promises of more success to come. Or so I thought. What followed is already public record, or it will be soon as lawsuit filings are posted. If I’ve been unwilling to talk about the details or read the links to gossip about this it’s because I’ve been actually dealing with it, signing declarations for lawyers, strategizing on the best ways to help Peter now that we know who the good and bad guys are for sure. (in case you have any lingering doubt, Peter’s just fine, mentally and otherwise, and anyone who tells you differently should be treated as highly suspect)

I’m going to be selfish and talk about myself for a minute, because my story is now inextricably linked to Peter’s and to the fate of his world. I offered to work for nothing, or for whatever could be spared to help me cover bills. Some months there was pay, some there was not, but I was never paid at the market value of my work, and at the time I believed that this was my own investment in Peter’s future and in my own. I also want to make it clear that Peter is not the person I was directly working for, he didn’t know anything about what I was paid or the actual value of my work. Unlike others, Peter was a joy to work with and treated me with immense kindness and respect at all times. I worked for years with the understanding that pay commensurate with the level of my work would be given to me as deals were signed. (Kiddos, never ever work without a contract, even if you think you’re helping save the world) I worked with the understanding that when deals were signed I would be given significant help covering bookstore needs and upgrades. I worked with the understanding that I had a place in the amazing things that were just down the road. I think you know where this all ended up.

My personal savings covered the bookstore’s needs and my lack of pay. It’s long gone now. I work seven days a week so I have a small income to start rebuilding my life, and so I don’t have to give up my bookstore (it’s touch and go every single month). What happened to me is nothing compared to what happened to Peter, what is still happening.

You can help. Please read the links (it’s okay if you don’t make it past the summaries at the beginnings, we’re not all lawyers) and please spread them. Use my note as a preface, write your own, add your thoughts, whatever you want. But please, help us free the unicorns.

We have started selling hand-inked pins made on recycled encyclopedia pages for $2 each. If you see pins you want, you can email is at info@rickertandbeaglebooks.com with your requests. If we sold the one you want we’ll just make you a new one!

We have TONS of these and we’ll try to keep updated pictures posted here, but this is a good sample of what we have right now!

For customers who live outside the Pittsburgh area, it must be heartbreaking. Seeing our cool events and our weird sales and All. Those. Tentacles.

As always, we’re here to help you through the rough times.

For a standard online shopping experience, you can simply browse our stores on Amazon or on ABE. You are also welcome to browse here and call ahead to have your books held for you for pickup. (we will hold books for up to 3 days)

Looking for a more personal touch? Looking for that collection of mysteries that you read five years ago and you know it’s about a librarian who crochets but that’s it? Maybe a personal shopper appointment is what you need! You can call ahead to schedule (and if we’re not busy we can often help you right away!) and the service is generally available any day other than Sunday.

Personal shopping services include:

Hard to find book searches – If you can’t figure out how to find the book you want, or you can’t even figure out what the book is, give Chris a call. Initial searches are free, and we offer extremely inexpensive options for extensive book searches and upcoming author releases alerts.

Personal shopping by phone – If you know you want to read on a general subject, but you don’t know exactly what you want, we can help you pick just the right book. We’ll take your information and offer you a number of options. Ask to set the conversation up via cell phone and Chris can text you photos of the books you might be interested in!

Gift packages assembled to your specifications – All we really need is a list of genres and a dollar amount to put together a gift package, but you can be as specific or non-specific as you like (we’ve assembled packages with “Books that all have an X in the title or the author’s name” and “Elephant things” for example.) Options for gift packages also include adding a shop mug, literary candle, or themed doll or gift item. Each package will also contain: A random selection of three of our pins and one odd item from our gifts section. The gift package minimum is $20. Shipping is included with all domestic orders.

For information on these services or anything else you have questions about: Email Info@rickertandbeaglebooks.com or call (412) 344-7444

We’ve been getting more questions lately about book donations. So here’s a quick guide to giving us your books.

-If you want to trade your books for other books or sell your books for money, please click HERE Book trades and sales

-We are happy to accept most book donations any time we are open. We can not accept encyclopedia sets, text books or magazines, and if our small storage space is full we may temporarily stop taking donations. We’re happy to direct you to local libraries and other book buyers who might be interested when we can’t take your books in.

We’ve changed our store hours to reflect our busier and slower days, plus Chris’ very busy schedule outside the store. We’re still flexible with out schedule for large trades or special events, so if you have a question about a time we’re not normally open, let us know!

New Hours:

Monday, Friday, Saturday: 10-7

Tuesday 11-8

Wednesday, Sunday 11-5

Thursday 12-5.

No trades on Thursdays or Sundays.

On Wednesday, 3/22, we will not accept trades after 2pm. We will be closed on Thursday, 3/23.